37" Redfish On A Chug Bug

Catching a 37" Redfish on a Chug Bug wasn't exactly what I expected this afternoon, but that is exactly what happened this evening.

After a depressing day in the stock market, I decided to clear my brain and wet a line in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

I left the house at around 5:30 pm and headed towards Peacocks Pocket where I managed to catch some nice sea trout yesterday evening. When I got to the spot, the water was like glass and as I fished the area I quickly realized that there were no fish in the area today.

I slowly drove up the road towards the kayak launch looking for signs of fish but only saw an occasional sea trout dimpling the surface.

I pulled up to the mouth of a small pond and spotted a rolling tarpon in the deeper canal adjacent to the entrance, so I started pitching my Shad pattern Chug Bug around the area.

After several well placed casts, I hooked into a fat slot sized sea trout which I quickly released.

I spotted some tailing activity in the small pond but the fish were well past casting range but I decided to continue fishing the area anyway.   At least one juvenile tarpon was still in the area and I wanted a shot at the fish.

After many casts I spotted a wake coming around the point towards the pond's entrance so I shot a cast right at the bank several feet ahead of the wake.

The fish exploded on the Chug Bug and literally inhaled the lure.  The fish took off towards the pond and as soon as I felt it's weight I knew it was a good red.  The fish made several runs up and down the marsh canal, but each time I put on as much pressure as I could to stop the fish from heading towards the brush at the bank. 

After about 15 minutes or so I finally steered the fish close enough to grab it with my Boga Grip.

I landed the fish and skinnied up the  bank to unhook the big red, take a quick measurement and a pic before releasing it.    The fat redfish measured in at 37" without pinching the tail and it did literally inhale the Chug Bug.

I got out my fishing pliers and tried my best not to hurt the fish as I removed the treble hooks.  They were inside at the gills but I managed to extract the bait without doing too much damage.  At least the fish wasn't bleeding.

I got back down the bank and spent about another 10 minutes trying to revive the fish.  It started moving and I thought it was ok so I released the fish back into the marsh canal.

The fish swam about three feet or so and went belly up.  I was going to continue fishing but I decided to stick around and try to help the fish.  It's gills were still moving so I hoped it would eventually upright itself and move on but after 15 minutes or so it was still belly up.

A snake slithered up to the fish and made it stir a bit so I took a short video of the situation.

Finally, the redfish slowly up righted itself and  started swimming in meandering circles until it eventually went into the shallow marsh pond.

I stuck around to ward off any gators that might take an interest but fortunately none were in the area.

After confirming that the redfish made it, my fishing for the evening was just about finished.

The gnats were starting to get to me, so I packed up my rod, took a few pics of the awesome sunset and headed home.

As I drove slowly towards the boat launch, I spotted a couple more redfish cruising down the marsh canal but I didn't bother making any cast towards them.

Catching a 37" Redfish on a Chug Bug was enough for one evening.  To date, this is the largest red I have caught on a topwater bait in this area.

Till next time, Tight Lines.

Fishing Chug Bugs In The Ditches

As I've stated many times in the past, topwater fishing with Chug Bugs in the ditches is a blast when conditions are right.

Yesterday afternoon my wife and I decided to take Elmo and Odie out to the "swamp" for scouting trip.

We packed up several rods along with the dogs and headed to to local bait shop to pick up some fresh shrimp for Karen to use for bait.  I wound up buying a new bait bucket along with a dozen medium size shrimp

The owner of the bait shop said the reds and sea trout were hitting all week around the islands at the Peacocks Pocket boat launch, as well as the shallow water flats around the small islands at the entrance to Banana Creek.

 

Peacocks Pocket and entrance to Banana Creek

I thanked him for the information and we headed to Peacocks Pocket road to check out the bite.

Odie was going nuts, so we entered the first entrance at Gator Creek and slowly meandered around the road watching for signs of fish.

Although I didn't spot any topwater activity, Karen wanted to stop along the first stretch of road to dunk her shrimp.  I found a deep water stretch along the marsh canal and pulled over to the side of the road so we could fish.

Karen was fishing a Cajun Thunder float with a large shrimp just off the bottom and I decided to fish the canal with a newly opened Chug Bug smeared up with some Pro-Cure offshore saltwater formula.

The weather conditions were conducive to top water fishing.  It was an overcast day with a slight breeze over the water, the air temperature was in the low to mid 80s, and it looked like it was going to rain.

I didn't want to interfere with Karen's fishing so I walked down the marsh canal "ditch" looking for fish.  It didn't take long before I spotted something busting on small bait along the bushy bank.

I started casting a Shad pattern Chug Bug along the bank and almost immediately picked up a slot size sea trout.  The fish swatted the plug and got hooked in the back.  I took a pic of the fish and quickly released it into the ditch to grow into a gator trout. (We weren't trying to catch dinner today!)

After making several casts with no follow ups I moved down the ditch to another area where something was chasing baitfish.

A well placed cast to the far bank hooked me up with a two foot long ladyfish that jumped all over the canal before finally giving up the battle.

On two occasions it headed for some brush at the bank but I managed to steer the fish away from the stickups.

I put the ladyfish on ice in the cooler to use for cut bait later in the day and continued fishing the Chug Bug.

 

I moved a few yards down the canal and started pitching the Chug Bug to another commotion on the surface.  I took three or four catches to pick up another sea trout a little bigger than the last fish.

I took another pic, released the fish and continued fishing along the banks of the ditch.

I had three or four misses on the Chug Bug before landing and releasing another smaller sea trout and decided to back track and fish the other direction.

Karen asked me to set out another rod to fish a shrimp on the bottom, so I took a break and rigged one of my rods with a 4/0 hook and some fluorocarbon leader.  All the time I was fishing to topwater bait, she didn't get a single bite.

I walked past where she had parked herself and started fishing the other direction.  I was walking and casting and about 20 yards from where she was fishing, another ladyfish nailed the Chug Bug and danced all over the place before being landed.

I took another pic of the fish and let this one go.  I figured one large ladyfish was enough bait for today.

   

 I continued fishing and picked up two more sea trout on the lure before the bite dropped off entirely. 

All the fish were in the slot and all were released to grow up into gator trout after their pictures were taken for posterity.

The front was moving in and it was beginning to sprinkle.  Karen had not gotten a single bite all the time we were fishing, but she said she still enjoyed being out in the fresh air with Odie and Elmo.

We packed up our gear and decided to head for home about 6:30 pm.  As we slowly drove to the and of Peacocks Pocket Road, we spotted three big redfish cruising the marsh canal.  The fish move from spot to spot as evening approaches and usually don't bite.

I still couldn't help trying for a red with a fresh dead shrimp so I drove ahead of one of the fish, quickly parked and tossed the shrimp in front of the redfish.  The fish grabbed the shrimp and pulled off it's head as it continued on it's way up the canal.

I decided that several ladyfish and five sea trout were enough for one day, so we headed home just as the rain started in earnest.

I've been out of town for a couple of weeks and need to get more fishing in.  Hopefully tomorrow will be just as good.

Till then, Tight Lines.

Dog Days Redfish

Got back home just in time for fishing the proverbial Dog Days of August in East Central Florida.

Unlike the Mobile, Al. area where most of the saltwater fishing is timed to tidal changes, most of the areas in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge have no tide movement to speak of.

This has it's pros and cons but generally, I prefer looking for the fish in lieu of having to wait for a tide to bring the fish come to you.

Anyway, I managed to get out yesterday for a bit to try the area around Peacocks Pocket despite the thunderstorm activity in the area.

I drove around East Gator Creek road to check out the water levels and see if there was any topwater action.  I didn't spot any actively feeding fish so I decided to scout the area around the "pocket".

The grass around the side of the unimproved road has not been cut and some of the people not used to pulling off the side of the road to pass another vehicle were obviously having trouble.

The air temperature was in the high 80s and it was raining off and on most of the time I was in the area.

I started fishing with a Yozuri 3DB topwater plug and picked up a couple of small Ladyfish around a shallow pond but nothing of any substance so I switched to a beaten up Chug Bug.

The Chug Bug got a couple of follow ups but no hits,  so I changed out the bait for a new plug and finally nailed a slot size sea trout.  

I don't know if the new lure did the trick, but after I released the fish, I never got another hit on the lure.

Despite the weather, several fishermen were trying their luck in the area, mostly for redfish using live baits and at least one guy with a topwater "walk the dog" bait.

I pulled up to a couple of fishermen who had been kayaking in the marsh canal and asked how they were doing.

One of the guys was in the water at the bank up to his waist with the kayak.  The other guy said they caught a redfish on a gold spoon, but nothing else for the day.   I was going to give him some good advise about the 10 foot gator that calls that area home, but I decided that it wouldn't do any good and moved on.

I spooked several nice redfish that were cruising down the marsh canal on the way out of the refuge and eventually picked up this oversize 30 inch redfish close to dark at the kayak launch on a gold Johnson's Sprite spoon.   

I made a bad cast from the bank and didn't expect the fish to take the lure, but it swirled around and nailed the bait as it hit the water.  The fish put up a nice fight but after a couple of good runs I managed to pull the fish from the water

I measured the fish hoping it would shrink a couple of inches so I could take it home to eat, but I put it back to grow bigger and fight another day.

The fishing in our area is vastly different from where I've been working.  In Mobile Bay, everything is geared to the tides.

Anyway, for being the Dog Days of August, the fishing wasn't half bad.  Hopefully, the rest of the week will be just as good.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.

Traveling Fisherman

It's nice to know that I'm not the only traveling fisherman in our area.

I recently got these pics from a subscriber friend of mine who happened to be fishing "down the road" from me in Ft. Pickens in Pensacola, Fl.

 

I decided to make this post using his words:

"I checked into my hotel in Penscola Beach and then headed west towards the park.

    

My weapon of choice is my 7’9” Blair Wiggins rod with a Cabo 40 spooled with 20# PowerPro.

            

When I arrived at the fort lots of folks were fishing the jetty area so I walked on up the beach towards the point.

 

I had checked the tides and needed to be in position to fish the change out towards the point by 17:30.

            

For bait I tied on a Live Target shrimp on 20# fluorocarbon.

Walking along the beach I could see the rip line forming as the outgoing was slowing.  Some bait fish scattered along the edge so I held up and started casting the shrimp in the area.  I cast up current and let the shrimp drift down and back towards me with a lift  fall retrieve.

            

Good thing I brought the Wiggins with me. The 7’9” casts a long way and the rod has lots of power.

            

I landed 2 really nice Reds and had a 3^rd pull off. These Reds made the best of their size and power to use the current to their advantage.

          

Some vacationers were walking by when I hooked the 1^st fish and were nice enough to snap a quick picture before I released the fish.

 

The next fish was a copy of the 1^st. Great pulling power.   After a couple long runs, the fish tired and posed for a couple pictures before release.

            

A 3^rd fish grabbed my Live Target and made a good run out into deeper water. The hook popped out and the ride was over.

            

The tide change was the key. Once the tide started to rip back into Pensacola Bay the action was over.

           

            

I had a little cushion in my travel plans so I went out the following morning as the sun was rising.

           

 I walked out all the way to the end and around the corner.   I found a short section of beach that cuts back in out of the current.

           
The water was crystal clear and I located a large school of big Reds.   The fish were just cruising around.  

I spent about an hour casting to them with no luck.   I tried a variety of retrieves from dragging the shrimp to ripping it to trigger a response.   The school would part and move away from the lure.   They gave my Live Target Shrimp a couple looks but always peeled off.

I lengthened my leader to 6’ but still nothing.  Guessing these big old Reds have seen it all before.

           
With no live shrimp or crabs to toss out there and running out of time, I had to be on my way.

           

When your driving by and have a little extra time, give it a try.   It’s another beautiful area of the state to explore.

            

Tight lines!"

Although I've been working in Mobile, Al in the Dauphin Island area, I haven't had time to wet a line in the area yet.    Craig, on the other hand managed to pick up some nice fish in his area which is known for nice size redfish.

Can't wait to hit the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge when I get home.

Till next time,
Tight Lines.